The federal government’s Aug. 15 oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico will offer slightly more acreage than officials originally announced.

A news release Thursday said the government’s final notice of sale is offering 78 million acres (31.6 million hectares). That’s about 700,000 acres (280,000 hectares) more than described in March.

This is the third sale offering all unleased acreage in the Gulf. The first two brought leases on six-tenths of a percent and one percent of the available acreage.

The unleased tracts are in water 3 to 231 miles (5 to 370 kilometers) offshore, and in water from 9 feet to more than 2 miles (3 to 3,400 meters) deep.

The sale will be livestreamed.

(Associated Press, copyright 2018)

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